Cotton-press.



No. 66!,3501- Patented Nov. 6, I900. 0. E. MALLETT.

COTTON PRESS.

(Application filed m 5, 1900.)

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CHARLES E. MALLETT, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

COTTON- -PRESS.

$PECIFICATION formingpart Of Letters Patent NO. 661,350, dated November6, 1900.

Application filed May 5, 1900- Serial K0. 15,621. (No model.)

To [1.5]. 1071 0122, it 'Hl/H/Z/ concern.-

Be itknown that I, CHARLES E. MALLETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Presses, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of cottonpresses adapted to make acompressed bale at the gin. Such a press is described in my reissuedLetters Patent No. 11,769, dated September 5, 1899; and the object ofthe present application is the describing and claiming of certainadditional details of construction of that press.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure 1 isa side elevation, partly in section, of so much of a press asis necessary to illustrate my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are detailsectional views, on a larger scale, illustrating the action of theplunger and the bat-feeding mechanism. Fig. 4 is a plan view of theplunger.

This class of presses is adapted to take the place of both the ordinarycountry press and of the compress-in other words, to make a compressedbale at the gin. It will be presently seen that owing to the nature ofthe mechanism employed by me it is important to have the cotton reachthe press as a compact hat of considerable density. To this end Iemploy, by preference, a form of bat forming and condensing mechanism,indicated at 1, but not here specifically described, as it is made thesubject of application for United States Letters Patent, filed by meSeptember 9, 1889, Serial No. 729,958. This bat forming and condensingmechanism delivers the cotton in the form of a dense hat 2 to anaccumulating shelf or support 3, supported upon the press-frame 4, andthence the bat is taken by feed-rolls 5, supported so as to drop the batbetween them vertically in front of the reciprocating plunger ortraverser 6.

7 is the platen, which may be constructed and made to operate in anyapproved wayfor example, as shown in my application Serial No. 2,512,filed January 27, l900-so as to recede gradually as the cotton is laidand pressed thereupon. The platen is free to move in the press-box 8,which is arranged horizontally, as shown, so that the feed-rolls 5,arranged above its cotton-receiving end, may drop the cotton by gravityacross its mouth. The cotton-bat is laid layer by layer upon the platen,each layer being pressed into the press-box as laid by bringing theplunger 6 against it. Each layer of bat is held and the bale held fromexpanding in the intervals between the blows of the plunger byfingenframes 9, which, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3, enter thegrooves 10 in the plunger when the latter has completed its compressingaction and is about to or has begun to move back.

The operation of the aforesaid finger-frames is fully set forth in myaforesaid application, Serial No. 729,958, and they are here onlyillustrated to show that they pierce the bat and support its upper endwhile the successive folds are being laid on. The bat is laid oncontinuous and unbroken throughout the bale, the plunger 6 being madesmall enough, as shown in Fig. 3, to allow room for the bat between itsupper edge and the press-box when the plunger is in. While in thisposition the bat is held by the fingers J, as already described, and asthe plunger is drawn back to the position shown in Fig. 2 the bat isdropped by the feedrolls in the form of a loop, as shown in said figure,in position to be pressed up against the platen or the already.)artially-formed bale with the next reciprocation of the plunger, asshown in Fig. 3.

It will be seen that any portion of the bat 2 fed through by thefeed-rolls in excess of that folded each time by the plunger is car riedand supported upon the top edge of the plunger and the tie-bars 10,which together form a sufliciently broad support for such excess cotton.

It will be seen that the corners of the plunger are rounded to let thebat pass over it without injury and that. the press will operate to layand press the bat into the press-box in successive folds unbroken anduninjured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A cotton-press comprising a press-box, means for delivering acontinuous and unbroken web into said box, and a plunger of lessdimension than the press-box, so as to form a space between it and theWall of the box to receive the web, whereby it presses said web in foldswithout breaking its continuity.

2. In a cotton-press, the combination of means for feeding an unbrokenweb, a pressboX having its feed-opening located beneath the web-feedingmeans, a plunger pressing the Web in folds and constructed witlritsvertical dimension less than that of the pressboX so as to leave a spacebetween its upper side and the top of the press-box to permit the web tocontinue past it back from the pressing-point during compression and asupport mounted on the plunger for that portion of the web accumulatingduring compression.

3. In a cotton-press, the combination of a press-box, web-pressingrollers above the box feeding a continuous unbroken web into the openingof the box by gravity, a plunger pressing the web into continuousconnected folds and constructed with its'vertical dimension less thanthat of the press-box so as to leave a space between it and the wall ofthe box, to permit the web to continue past it back from thepressing-point, to avoid breaking the web, and said plunger beingconstructed to support the web and brought beneath the webpressingrollers while the plunger is pressing.

4:. In a cotton-press, the combination of means for forming a continuousweb, and a plunger-press into which the web is delivered, said press andits plunger being constructed so as to leave a space between the edge ofthe plunger and the corresponding wall of the press-box from thepressing-point to the feed-- opening, to receive the cotton-web andprevent severance thereof during pressing.

5. In a cotton-press, the combination of a balingbox, a traverserarranged to operate therein, means for operating said traverser, meansfor pressing the cotton to be baled into a web, and said traverser beingconstructed to support the web after it has passed the feed-rolls andwhile the preceding portion of the web is being pressed, substantiallyas described.

6. In a cotton-press, the combination of a baling-box, a traverser tooperate therein, means for operating the traverser, means for pressingthe cotton to be baled into a hat or web, and said traverser beingconstructed to support and arrest the movement of the web into thebaling-box while the traverser is m aking the last part of its forwardand the first part of its rearward movement.

7. A cotton-press comprising a press-box having a feed-opening and aplunger, webpressing rollers delivering into said feed-opening acontinuous unbroken web, the relation between the transverse dimensionof the plu nger and the corresponding dimension of the press-box beingsuch as to leave a web-passage from the point of pressing to thefeedopening, whereby the plunger may press said web into folds withoutbreaking its continuity.

S. A cotton-press, comprising a press-box having a feed-opening, meansfor forming the cotton into a continuous and unbroken web or bat, andwhich is located over the feedopening of the press-box so to deliver thehat by gravity into said feed-opening in an unbroken condition, and aplunger located in and of less vertical dimension than the interior ofsaid press-box and acting to press said bat into folds without breakingits continuity.

9. A plunger-press provided with a suitable feed-opening and having thewall of the press-box on the side in which the feed-opening is formed,and between said feed-opening and the pressing-poin t, spaced apart fromthe plane of the corresponding edge of the plunger, whereby a spaceextends past said edge of the plunger when the latter is at thepressing-point and means for feeding a continuous and unbroken web orhat of cotton to said press; substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

10. The combination of bat forming and condensing mechanism,means forfeedingand folding by gravity a continuous bat, a horizontal press-boxhaving a feed-opening for said bat, and a plunger or traverser arrangedto enter said box to compress said bat therein and having its verticaldimension less than that of the interior of the press-box, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

CHARLES E. MALLETT.

